Photo by Michelle LaBorde

Blue Sky Publishing ‘s Calista Gonzalez poses with a rack filled with cards by various artists.

Searching for a special card for your Valentine sweetheart can be disheartening, particularly if you want your message to be memorable. Gunbarrel’s Blue Sky Publishing sells cards that are unique.It’s specialty is art work that Blue Sky’s Helen Goodyear believes satisfies “a visual craving that we all have and need.”

Blue Sky’s president Bob Marqueen has a keen eye for art according to account executive Goodyear.“Bob’s mother was an artist and his father owned a printing business in New York City.”His expertise is crucial to the company’s success because they don’t commission art for their product lines. Goodyear explains,“The one thing that is very important about Blue Sky is that we don’t commission any artwork.We license artwork that is already in existence.The art is created for art’s sake rather than for commercial purposes.”

The search for art work is simple.Goodyear stated that artists either submit artwork or are scouted from trade shows or magazines.“Either way we make contact and see if they have already licensed their work with another greeting card company.”

Typically, the art is licensed for between two and five years, which means the artist can’t sell those greeting card rights to anyone else for that particular work of art.“But they can sell it in other forms, which is really wonderful for the artist.... [Having their work in a greeting card form] thrusts the work into a national marketplace,” ex-plained Goodyear.

Blue Sky Publishing has contracts with many local artists, including award winning Sandra Bierman who lives in Boulder and whose art is included in Blue Sky’s Contemporary Collection.Lindsey Leavel, who lives in Lafayette, is also featured in Blue Sky’s Contemporary Collection.Her work can be admired on the compact disc covers of musicians Peter Kater and R. Carlo Nakai.

Both Bierman and Leavell’s work can be purchased in greeting card and note card form.“Connections”, Blue Sky’s Fine Art Greeting Card catalog, features 24 artists. Personalized greeting cards for business are available through their “Winter in the West” catalog.The artwork featured in this collection is mainly nature photography, including the work of John Fielder.

In the Gunbarrel/Niwot area, Blue Sky’s cards can be found at Page Two, Whynot Cafe and the Yankee Doodler Bookshop among others.Marcie Hawley, manager at the Yankee Doodler, said that Blue Sky’s card line is very popular with her customers.Hawley describes Blue Sky as “a very classy (product) line. Their cards appeal to people looking for something unique.”

Blue Sky has independent representatives across the nation.Ms. Goodyear reports that their holiday line was sold at Barnes and Noble, “although they are NOT our bread and butter.It’s all the small guys.”

Being small does not prohibit Blue Sky from being generous.It has been actively involved in fundraising for the Boulder Ballet and the Boulder Community Hospital Auxiliary.It has provided printing for invitations and menus for gala events benefiting different causes and brokered donations of artwork for silent auctions. 

Blue Sky Publishing’s product lines are attractive and distinct.They are not mass produced to resemble attractive art; they truly are works of art.

Blue Sky Publishing is located at 6395 Gunpark Drive, Suite M.The phone number is 303-530-4654.